Supporting Information
Plasmonic Color Palettes for Photorealistic Printing
with Aluminum Nanostructures
Shawn J. Tan1, Lei Zhang2, Di Zhu1, Xiao Ming Goh1, Ying Min Wang1, Karthik Kumar1,†,
Cheng-Wei Qiu2, Joel K.W. Yang1,3,*
1
Institute of Materials Research and Engineering, A*STAR, 3 Research Link, Singapore
117602, Singapore
2
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National University of Singapore, 4
Engineering Drive 3, Singapore 117583, Singapore
3
Singapore University of Technology and Design, Singapore 138682, Singapore
†
Current Address: Biomedical Research Council, A*STAR, Singapore
*
Corresponding Email: [email protected]
KEYWORDS: Nanoplasmonics, Aluminum plasmonics, Color printing, Structural color,
Electron-beam lithography
Materials and Methods
Electron-beam lithography (EBL). Negative-tone electron-beam resist HSQ (Product number:
XR-1541-006, Dow Corning, Michigan, USA) was spin-coated onto silicon substrates to a
thickness of 95 nm. No baking process was applied on the resist layers so as to avoid thermallyinduced crosslinking of the resist, thus enabling a higher resolution of patterning to be achieved.
EBL was performed using an Elionix ELS-7000 EBL system (Elionix Inc., Tokyo, Japan) with
an accelerating voltage of 100 kV and a beam current of 500 pA. The write field was set to
150 µm × 150 µm with and exposure step size of 2.5 nm. The dose used for patterning the
nanodisk structures was 12 mC cm-2. No proximity-effect correction was performed for the
exposure. Instead, to achieve well-defined nanodisk structures with steep sidewalls, a highcontrast development process – samples were developed in a formulation of aqueous 1% NaOH,
4% NaCl in deionized (DI) water at 24oC for 1 min, followed by rinsing under running DI water
for 2 min.1 The developed samples were then blow-dried under a steady stream of N2.
Pattern generation. MATLAB (The Mathworks Inc., Massachusetts, USA) was used to
generate a layout consisting of arrays of nanostructures with a range of diameters, pitch, shape
and gaps for electron-beam lithography. No software-based proximity-effect correction was
performed on the layouts. For the demonstration of plasmonic color paintings, we used a digital
copy of a Monet painting (Impression, Sunrise) that is already in the public domain and not
bound by copyright laws, from Wikipaintings (URL: www.wikipaintings.org). The digital copy
was input into MATLAB and the color of each pixel was matched to a corresponding pixel
layout, and finally output into an overall layout for EBL.
Metal deposition. Metal deposition was performed using an electron-beam evaporator system
(Explorer Coating System, Denton Vacuum Inc., New Jersey, USA). An aluminum plasmonactive layer (20 nm) was deposited onto the developed samples at a rate of 1 Ås-1. The working
pressure during evaporation was ~1 × 10-6 torr. The temperature of the sample chamber was
maintained at 20oC during the entire evaporation process, with the sample holder rotating at a
rate of 50 rpm to ensure uniformity of the deposition. The fabricated structures were imaged
using an Elionix ESM-9000 scanning electron microscope (Elionix Inc., Tokyo, Japan) with an
accelerating voltage of 10 kV and a working distance of 5 mm.
Optical measurements. To investigate the optical properties of the fabricated structures,
extinction spectra were measured in reflection mode using a QDI 2010 UV-visible-NIR range
microspectrophotometer (CRAIC Technology Inc., California, USA). Both incident and
collected light were at normal incidence to the substrate, with the electric field of the linearly
polarized light in plane with the substrate surface. Optical micrographs were acquired using a
Olympus MX61 (Olympus Inc., Tokyo, Japan) set-up with ×5 (0.15 NA), ×10 (0.3 NA), ×20
(0.45 NA), ×50 (0.8 NA) and ×150 (0.9 NA) air objectives, using a SC30 Olympus Digital
Camera. ImageJ (NIH, Maryland, USA) was used to process optical images in the form of
resizing and/or background normalization for the purpose of comparison.
Numerical simulations. Finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulations were performed
using commercial software (Lumerical FDTD Solutions). Individual pixels with different disk
diameters and inter-pitch distances were simulated. The single pixel, consisting of 4 disks, was
surrounded by perfectly-matched layers, and illuminated with normal incident plane waves using
a total field scattered field (TFSF) source . The electric field was polarized along the center-tocenter axis of two adjacent nanopillars, i.e. in the x-z plane as indicated in Figure 3C and 3D.
Reflection spectra were calculated by subtracting the absorption and transmission from the total
incident power. The complex refractive indices of aluminum and silicon were taken from
literature2, and the refractive index for HSQ was simulated as a constant of 1.41.
Figure S1. Simulation setup used for FDTD simulations from a (A) top view and (B) side view.
Based on the SEM results shown in Fig. S3, the aluminum nanodisks were modeled with an
extended collar (overcoat) of ~ 3 nm around the HSQ nanopillar as show in (C) and (D).
Durability of Aluminum Plasmonic Colors
An aluminum color palette was fabricated in the same process detailed in the manuscript and
imaged under an optical microscope. The same color palette was imaged 224 days later after
being left out in ambient conditions (Figure S2). There was a slight increase in minor color
variations that was observable only at a high magnification of 150×. Overall, the aluminum
colors remained remarkably similar 224 days later, highlighting the durability and robustness of
the aluminum plasmonic color palettes. In comparison, silver color palettes exhibited visible
signs of degradation within a week due to oxidation and sulfidation of the silver metal (data not
shown).
Figure S2. Optical images of the same aluminum palette upon fabrication (Day 0) and after
seven months (Day 224) show a high degree of color retention, highlighting the durability and
robustness of aluminum palettes. The optical images were normalized to a white background for
comparison.
Height of Nanopillars
A color palette with aluminum nanodisks evaporated onto HSQ nanopillars was mechanically
agitated, resulting in collapsed nanopillars. The height of these collapsed nanostructures was
measured using SEM to be ~ 115 nm, which is consistent with a 20 nm layer of aluminum
evaporated onto a 95 nm patterned HSQ resist layer (Figure S3). The collapsed nanopillars also
revealed the formation of an aluminum collar around the top edges of the HSQ nanopillar, due to
sidewall deposition during metal evaporation. This collar was measured to be ~ 3 nm thick,
extending ~ 6 nm down from the HSQ-aluminum interface. This feature was taken account in
our FDTD simulations.
Figure S3. Collapsed nanostructures of aluminum nanodisks sitting atop HSQ nanopillars
obtained by mechanical agitation revealed that the height of the nanostructures was ~ 115 nm
through SEM characterization. Note that the bottom left structure shows two collapsed
nanopillars that are coincidentally joint at the ends.
Resolution of a Single Pixel
A single pixel containing four aluminum nanodisks can be resolved amidst an array of pixels
corresponding to a single color as shown in Figure S3. Figure S3C indicates that the colors
manifested by individual aluminum nanodisks within the pixel can also be resolved under an
optical microscope, at diameter steps of 20 nm. In addition, minor random variations in color
were observed in the background with nanodisk diameters of 100 nm, likely arising from the
fabrication process. This also highlights the sensitivity of plasmonic colors to structural
parameters, which is consistent with what have been widely reported in literature.
Figure S4. A single pixel of aluminum nanodisks with different diameters in both the mixed
format (two different diameters) and the basic format (single diameter), was patterned in an array
of pixels corresponding to the yellowish color from d = 100 nm. (A), (B) and (C) show how the
pixel is resolved when imaged under different microscope magnifications, with the dotted boxed
indicating the area that was magnified. At the highest magnifications, differences in color of
individual disks due to slight variations in the geometry and size of the disks can be seen. Note
also that the individual colors that comprise the mixed pixel can be resolved.
Tolerance of Color Pixels to Fabrication Errors
To test the tolerance of color pixels to fabrication errors, we fabricated an aluminum color palette
with rough edges in comparison to a regular palette. The rough edges were introduced during the
electron-beam lithography patterning step and aluminum was subsequently evaporated onto the
developed HSQ patterns. Optical and SEM imaging of the color palettes (Figure S5)
demonstrated that while color was still observed in palettes containing features with rough edges,
the color was significantly subdued. There was also an increased variation in color within a
single array of nanodisks of the same diameters to mimic the possible variations introduced in
the fabrication process. Based on these results, plasmonic colors can still be achieved with higherror processes for applications that do not require high contrast or a broad spectrum of colors.
Figure S5. Tolerance of color palettes to patterning errors was tested by comparing (A, B) a regular color
palette to (C, D) a color palette fabricated with rough edges. (A) and (C) are optical images while (B) and
(D) are respective SEM images of pixels within each palette. These results suggest that perhaps the color
purity of Al structures could be further improved by reducing edge roughness of the structures.
Experimental and Simulation Spectra for Spacing Palettes
A representative series of reflection spectra from the spacing palettes in Figure 1D was obtained
using a QDI-2010 microspectrometer (CRAIC Technology), for d = 120 nm nanodisks with
increasing spacing from 300 nm up to 400 nm (Figure S6). The experimental spectra was
normalized against disks spaced at 250 nm apart to eliminate diffraction effects from our 800 nm
pixels and instrumentation artifacts. The FDTD simulations were performed using the geometry
and setup described in the Materials and Methods section of the Supporting Information (Figure
S1). The experimental spectra show a peak that increases in magnitude at ~465 nm that is not
accounted for in the simulations. We believe that this peak could be an artifact of the
measurements due to the inadvertent collection of diffractive orders by the
microspectrophotometer. Aside from these peaks, we observed a broadening and flattening of the
resonance dip at around 500 nm as the interdisk spacing decreased in both the experimental
spectra and the FDTD simulations. This broadening along with a monotonic increase in
reflectance intensity at the shorter wavelengths account for the subtle appearance of a bluish tint
to the otherwise deep magenta color, as observed in the spacing palette under the light
microscope. Given the mismatch between our simulation and experimental spectra, the spacing
palettes in our pixel design may be more complex, and involves the consideration of resonances
beyond individual pixels, such as surface lattice resonances.
Figure S6. (A) Experimental and (B) FDTD simulations of spacing palettes for d = 120 nm,
from inter-disk spacings within the plasmonic pixel of 300 to 400 nm. The presence of peaks in
the experimental spectra at wavelengths < 500 nm are likely due to lattice resonances and
diffraction effects that were not taken into consideration in the simulations.
Variations of Mixing and Spacing Palettes
In order to extend the plasmonic colors available, we created alternative mixing and spacing
palettes with different nanodisk densities as well as different maximum spacings between
nanodisks within the pixel (Figure S7). As compared to the palettes described in the main text
(four nanodisks within the plasmonic pixel with a maximum center-to-center spacing between
nanodisks of 400 nm), these palettes contain nine nanodisks within the plasmonic pixel, with
diameters ranging from 80 to 140 nm at steps of 5 nm and a maximum center-to-center spacing
between nanodisks of 200 nm. For the mixing palettes, the plasmonic pixel contained two
different sizes of nanodisks that were patterned alternating with each other at a center-to-center
pitch of 200 nm. For the spacing palettes, the plasmonic pixel contained nine identical nanodisks
but spaced at varying center-to-center spacing from each other, ranging from (d + 50) to a
maximum distance of 200 nm.
Figure S7. (A) Mixing palette containing nine nanodisks of two different diameters, positioned
at a center-to-center distance of 200 nm from each other, within the plasmonic pixel area of 800
nm. The nanodisk diameters (d1, d2) ranged from 80 to 140 nm in steps of 5 nm. The dotted
diagonal line represents arrays of plasmonic pixels containing nanodisks of a single diameter. (B)
Spacing palette containing nine nanodisks of a single diameter, but with varying center-to-center
distances within the plasmonic pixel area. The diameters (d) vary from 80 to 140 nm in steps of 5
nm, which the center-to-center distances varied from (d + 50) to 200 nm in steps of 5 nm.
Images were normalized to a white background.
Extent of colors in CIE 1931 Color Space
We plotted the colors achieved in CIE 1931 color space, using a MATLAB code that was
adapted from the ciegui package written by Prashant Patil, available on Mathworks © File
Exchange. The code mapped the RGB colors onto a CIE-XYZ color to demonstrate the dramatic
improvements made in color generation (Figure S8). Interestingly, unlike existing pigment-based
color spaces where secondary colors fall within boundaries defined by the primary colors,
additional colors obtained by mixing plasmonic colors extend beyond the boundaries of the basic
plasmonic colors. Indeed, this result suggests the posto further span a larger color space – some
of these can be achieved by tweaking additional parameters, such as but not limited to nanodisk
and nanopillar height, choice of metal, and morphology of nanostructures.
Figure S8. CIE-XYZ plots of (A) basic versus (B) extended palette.
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